Sunset
by Fenris30
Summary: Everyone has desires; some normal, some more forbidden. What happens when someone wants to act on a more forbidden one, and they find out another wishes to do the same? SephirothxAerith, set during CC.
1. Desire

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy, Sephiroth, Aerith, Shin-Ra, the Turks, or anything therein. They belong to Square, and I don't make any money off of this.

**A/N: **During the events of Crisis Core. Zack is away on a job(possibly hunting Angeal), while Sephiroth is back alone, since he can take about any job he wanted. Just a sort of ''what if''' scenario. It's a difficult pairing to finesse, but I figure I might be up to the challenge here. I was aiming for a different angle of it. Zack and Aerith are not technically together yet in the story, they have met, and have interest in one another; but they are not an official ''item.'' I'm sort of assuming the SOLDIERS had to go on a few jobs that you don't see in the game, in between acts or whatnot, so I'm sort of playing with that, as well as a few of the game events, as well. It's a challenging pairing to try to keep to the canon with, but I'll try.

Aerith and Zack are my favorite FFVII pairing by far, bar none...but I have a certain attraction to the forbidden feel of the Sephiroth/Aerith pairing, though it can be a bit more difficult to wiggle around with. We'll see how this goes. Reviews are welcome! I don't need them, but it's fun to read them every now and then.

The story takes place over I'd say a 3 or so week period; with chapter 7 happening after a small time skip, much like CC.

--

**Desire**

--

The slums passed by quickly, out the tinted window of the rather roomy Soldier quarters of the usually run-down Midgar train.

Soldier operatives were able to get their own, private quarters with a locking door on the trains; these were kept quite nice, compared to the run-down counterparts of even the ''first class'' areas, which was quite a misnomer.

Sephiroth sat there, looking at everything go by; the slums, the ruin, the people who somehow did not let the despair get to them. _Shin-Ra's half responsible for this, _he thought to himself with a touch of disgust. _Much more than half. _

Sephiroth was well beyond a first-class Soldier; the thirty year old could basically take whatever jobs he wanted, and toss off the ones he didn't. He almost had as much freedom as the director himself. Today, he had decided to take a smaller job of information gathering, in the Sector 5 slums, to see what some of the commotion was about. He hadn't been in the highest spirits lately; his friends betrayals and his dissatisfaction with his work wore on him; especially the former. He was often sent on jobs requiring the ''heavy lifting'', but since no one could challenge him, he occasionally found himself getting bored with them. It was almost unfair; Sephiroth was infused with things that made him many times more powerful than any normal man, and even ones that weren't normal themselves. _I suppose none of us are what you'd call normal, _he thought again to himself, with that slightest hint of disgust that usually perforated his mind when he thought of such things dealing with the company.

Sector 5 had held another thing of interest to Shin-Ra, and the Turks-the girl named Aerith, whom Zack had mentioned having his own interest in. Zack was away on a job; Sephiroth actually liked the young man, though he found him immature and foolhardy at times. Perhaps he only forgot what it was like to be eighteen again, maybe he had just done this too long.

_Was I ever excited about anything?_

He sighed, and saw that he was approaching his destination.

Zack had taken an interest in the Ancient girl soon after meeting her, he could hear the excitement in his voice. While he didn't say much, he had only met the girl in passing, he had to admit to himself he could see what the young man saw in the young lady; who was a year younger than Zack. Chestnut brown hair, beautiful green eyes. A bit unnatural in their own way, but not quite like the Mako-eyes the Soldiers shared. Sephiroth's were a bit different yet from the rest of them, and he had his full head of silver hair since he could remember.

He stretched his tall frame out, glad to be getting off of the train; even though the Soldier quarters were rather posh. When the train pulled to a stop, he slung his massive sword onto his side; the sword only he could wield-one handed, even-normal people could barely wield it in two hands properly, they could only sort of drag it around and make clumsy hits.

He stepped off, looking around and wrinkling his nose at the smell of the slums. _It's not their fault, _he thought again to himself. But he still found it rather distasteful. Then again, he seemed to find many things distasteful. Did he really enjoy anything much more than fighting? He tried to think of a time where he might have, but to his knowledge, he had always been some weapon. His memories were fuzzy enough that it frustrated him sometimes, to say the very least.

He brushed the annoyance out of his head, and began his trip through the slums; he stopped to question a few people, like he was supposed to. No, we haven't seen anything odd. Yes, the other day we saw a few of those beasts, but they were taken care of. Where were you when we needed you? You know, for being some high-class soldiers, you certainly know how to ignore folks.

The questions and answers tended to be the same, except for those who didn't know anything, of which there was many. Either that, or they didn't feel like saying anything, or were just plain out afraid of the tall, imposing man with the giant sword, thinking him as much of a monster as the rest of the things around.

_Not that I could blame them. They look to us for help, and we piss on them._

Sephiroth sighed, now having second thoughts about taking this job, and suddenly feeling like he wanted some action; perhaps to kill something that would try to wreak some havoc. Occasionally his frustration could reach this point. He found himself sometimes wishing his friends were still around, and the way they used to be, and other times wishing he had Zack's zest for life, which seemed to have left him...if it had ever been there.

He saw the girl, in her light blue dress, fumbling around with something out of the corner of his eye. He walked over to her.

''Need some help?'' he asked, his voice soft.

Aerith started, a bit scared. She turned around and looked up his large frame, until she saw his face. She took a few nervous steps back. ''Uhh...''

''It's ok. I'm here on business. I saw you having some trouble.''

She exhaled deeply; he could tell she was nervous often around his type. Well, except for Zack.

''I..I'm just trying to get this to the church. It's for the flowers.'' She pointed to the large bag. She looked back at him. ''Sephiroth. I do remember. We've met a couple of times before.''

''We have. The flowers?'' He hadn't remembered seeing flowers in Midgar since...ever.

''They grow in the church. I don't know why, but I've been caring for them. Some of the only bright life left in this place.'' She looked sad; not accusing like so many of the other people.

''Here.'' he said. He lifted the bag like it were paper. ''Tell me where to put it.''

''Uhh..yes. Come with me.'' She still looked nervous. She found herself looking at him often; every time she saw the man, she found herself sometimes unable to _not _stare. She didn't know why, but he had the most unearthly look about him, and a very dangerous aura. She wondered why he was helping.

She looked away as he caught her staring. He said nothing. Sephiroth, while rather distant, did know how to be a gentleman. It wasn't that much of a stretch to help the girl one of his comrades was interested in carry something.

When they reached the church, he dropped it off.

''T...thank you.'' She smiled.

He smirked slightly. ''You're welcome.''

''This isn't part of your duty. Pack mule?'' she chuckled.

He managed a small smile at that. ''Mind yourself.'' There was no menace in his voice, however. Sephiroth, under the right circumstances, _could _have a very dry sense of humor, if you knew how to get it out of him...and how to read it. He found this Aerith, which the Turks were always watching, rather intriguing himself; there were times he swore that he felt a sort of unknown connection. But he simply chalked it up to a sort of deja vu or some such nonsense.

''Why are you here, anyway? Usually they send the more normal soldiers down here to investigate.''

''I felt like taking this job today.''

''You pick your work?''

''Basically.'' He didn't quite like when people pryed, but her questions were innocent enough.

''I've heard a lot about you from Zack. He says you're unstoppable.''

He snorted laughter. ''He's correct.''

''Do you know where Zack is?'' She looked down at her flowers and began to do a few things with them.

''Off on a job. I'm not sure when he's due back. I wouldn't worry. He's a strong one.'' He hoped Aerith would not tell Zack he said these things. The boy didn't need any more ego and excitement in him; Sephiroth almost feared he would explode if that happened.

''I know.'' She looked up at him, finding herself staring at his eyes again. He sat in silence in one of the pews for awhile, wanting to take a break, he figured. He had been at this all day. Even he deserved a break now and again, after all.

''Have you seen anything odd?'' he asked, after a long while of silence, him sitting there, her working with the flowers. He figured he would try to somewhat stay on his job. Aerith was here often enough, and seemed quite smart, she might actually know some of the things that went on.

''Monsters around. More every day. We aren't being told much.'' She set down her small shovel and sat on one of the pews. She looked back up at him. ''We're used to that, though.''

Somehow, her words did not hold the contempt that the others did. He didn't know why; either she was one of the most forgiving souls on earth, or she simply did not concern herself with what went on upstairs. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

''Same thing as many others said. We're trying to find out why, as well.''

''Is that why you've been investigating?''

''Correct.'' He sat down as well, looking up. ''Some light gets in.''

''It does.''

''Why not go above and plant them if you like them so much?''

The young lady looked uncomfortable. _Teenager, _he thought to himself. _Zack mentioned she was a little younger than him._

''The sky makes me nervous.''

He looked a bit confused at that. ''Why?''

''I...don't know. It just does. I've been down here my whole life.''

''Maybe you should see it one day. I'm sure Zack would take you.''

''Maybe.'' She looked back at him again. He found himself examining her eyes again, before he looked away. He did not like what he had a feeling was going on in his subconscious mind at the moment.

''Well, if there are other problems, I'll be back. I'll be conducting investigations here, so keep your eyes out.'' He stood.

''I feel like I'm being watched, too,'' she said, suddenly.

_You are. _''I'm sure it's the stress of the unknowing that's been going around. You'll be ok.''

She nodded. ''Thanks again.'' She turned back. ''Maybe the sky isn't as scary as I think.''

''It's not. You would like it. You could grow...all of the flowers you like under it.'' He bowed slightly and walked out, without saying another word.

Deciding against the train, he walked back to the Shin-Ra headquarters, even though it was a slightly longer route. He felt like clearing his head for some reason, and cursing himself at the same time.

What was going on in his head? _I had seen the girl many times before, and suddenly I start to act like some drooling teenager? God, what has this job done to me? _

He really felt like being alone at the moment. Perhaps the stress of everything, including the disappearance and attacks of Angeal and Genesis were simply wearing on his mind.

He found he felt an odd bit of comfort in that church, something that had been severely lacking from his life ever since the betrayal of his friends and the discoveries of bits of truths that had been long buried. Perhaps it was a comfort that he had never felt. He couldn't remember.

He approached Shin-Ra headquarters, not looking at anyone, in his usual manner, to give his reports.

_Perhaps I shouldn't take these investigation jobs in Sector 5 anymore. I might not be the one for them. I should be out there, killing like I always have been._

Somehow, he found he might want to continue, though.

--

**A/N: **Shorter intro-type, I guess. I know what direction I'm going with this I think; I'm hoping I'm keeping them somewhat in character in their CC lifetimes.


	2. Dreams

**Disclaimer: **As usual, I don't own Final Fantasy or any of these characters, they are Square's and I don't make money from this.

**Warnings: **Solo male pleasure in this chapter, just to give a warning.

--

**Dreams**

--

''Hello?''

''Sephiroth?'' the young voice asked on the other end.

''Yes, this is my phone. Zack, what's the situation there?''

''More monsters. Angeal clones. Genesis clones. Sephiroth, what is going on here?''

''Calm down, Zack. Keep your composure. We don't even know. Well, I don't know, in any case.''

Zack sounded frustrated on the other end. ''Arrg...why won't they tell us anything?''

''It's their nature, Zack. The quicker you learn that, the better.''

The young man sighed on the other end. ''I know. I don't always like it, though.''

''Life is like that, Zack. Continue on. Report back if anything changes.''

''Yeah. Man, I just wanna get back there.''

''I know, Zack.'' Sephiroth found those words catch in his throat for some reason.

''I'll call you if anything changes.''

''Very well.'' He hung up the phone, and sat on the edge of his bed, in his rather spartan quarters.

His jacket and sword hung on the wall; he wore only his heavy boots and trousers, his head in his hand. He had showered, and finally felt like the dirt of the slums was off of him. _Funny, I kill tens and hundreds of enemies at once and I tend to feel less dirty. Makes you wonder what kind of people we really are. _

He knew why Zack wanted to come back; to see the girl that he had his interest in, Aerith. He had just seen her and she seemed to be doing just fine; she was sort of a pure spark of life in that otherwise dismal, dirty and desperate place. _All of us may well do better with some of her personality. _

Why did he feel guilty after this job? He simply went and questioned people; he happened to see her and questioned her as well. She was another dweller of the slums, like anyone else. He had already spoken a bit to her before on his visits, a couple of times with Zack. It was no different this time; he simply helped her carry a heavy item. He was good for that at least, if he wasn't killing something or someone; using his strength to do something _other _that kill was refreshing once in awhile.

So why did he feel like something was going on in his head that shouldn't?

He had looked at her, and he had found his eyes wandering on her. But he was a man, and she a woman...a young woman, thirteen years his junior, but a woman nonetheless. He still had enough of a human side to him to look at a pretty girl. There was nothing wrong with that. About everyone did it. Zack, he was flirtatious with about any woman he met, and seemingly didn't get pangs of guilt from this.

_So why do I feel like I'm doing something wrong right now?_

Perhaps it could have been the fact his comrade whom he did like, despite his immaturity, had an interest in the girl. It could have been her age. It could have been a mixture of the two, or that Shin-Ra obviously had some sort of interest in the girl as well.

Maybe it was because of the thoughts that were entering his head.

At first they were normal thoughts-she was a pretty girl. This time, though...he found the thoughts a bit more...forbidden, if you wanted to say it nicely. He hadn't had a woman in a long time, and he had a feeling...an almost hundred percent feeling, she was pure.

They weren't a constant barrage of thoughts, but he would be lying to himself if some ideas hadn't crossed his mind as they sat in the church. As he sat in silence, he watched her with the flowers; most of his thoughts had been of work, but a few were of something else. He couldn't help but notice how her fair skin was complimented by the dress, and the green hue of her eyes, the tumble of brown hair.

But she was so young, though.

She was looking at him, as well. He knew the look well enough. He hoped it had just been a sort of awe, however. Sephiroth could do that to people.

He folded his arms on his legs, staring at the blank wall of his room, in silence, his thoughts leaving his head for awhile. He absently picked up a materia that was in his room; a yellow colored one, which he had probably long forgotten. He rolled the smooth, cool stone in his hand. He didn't rely as much on the stuff these days, given his raw power and ability; but he still indeed used it. They all did. Magic was a handy thing to have.

_I can see what he sees in her, maybe. _

He cursed himself silently again for allowing the thoughts to come back in. He was a soldier, a general. He was beyond First Class Soldier, in a league of his own. He was a decorated hero; he had killed hundreds and hundreds of men and monsters in his career, by orders, in defense of himself, or his comrades, with his sword, materia, or even his bare hands, which were as deadly as any blade could be. He was looked up upon by the lower-ranked members, revered, and praised.

Why the hell couldn't he get the thoughts of a simple girl out of his head, like he was some lovesick puppy?

He sighed angrily and looked out his window and the bright red-orange sunset that went over the ocean.

_'The sky makes me nervous.'_

The words echoed in his head; he did not understand how anyone could think that...but she was not just anyone.

She definitely was not just anyone.

_Damn it! _He thought to himself in a rather frustrated manner. _I barely even know the girl!_

It was probably just some sort of infatuation. Again, he was a man, and men thought these things. Women did, too. It was a natural part of life, as unnatural as he was. He could just accept it and move on. People think these things, sometimes. It was nothing to feel guilty about. It didn't kill you to have dirty or forbidden thoughts once in awhile. Plenty of people could look at someone and wonder about them in more carnal ways, and then they move on with their lives. It wasn't some kind of poison.

_So why do I feel like it is?_

He knew how much Zack liked the girl; he was excited to speak of her. They weren't dating, they had met a few times, but he did like her, and Sephiroth could tell she liked him.

He also saw her looking at him today, in a similar manner.

_Regardless of what she is, she still has human thoughts, too. She's young, besides. Many young people are curious, that's all. _

He stared at the red, orange, and purple light in the sky, which reflected off of the water. It was quite beautiful. There was nothing scary about this. Even he could see beauty in things.

And people.

_Hmph._

He remembered sitting in the church, the smell of the flowers pleasant to his senses compared to everything else; the church smelled...calm. Wood, flowers, and another pleasant scent when the girl sat next to him when they talked a bit. She also smelled nice; it was a very fresh, clean scene...pure.

He could almost hear Genesis in his head, mentioning something poetic about it.

He felt a rough feeling in his right hand; he looked down to see he had crushed the materia in his hand into small pieces, some of it almost sand, without realizing it. He sifted it through his fingers, watching the yellow dust fall onto the spotless wooden floor of his room, followed with the other small pieces which hit the floor with a soft clacking sound. He brushed his boot over it, crushing the rest to powder and kicking it away, before resting his head on his arm, still staring at the flaming sunset.

_Maybe this is just that human remnant that's thinking these things. Maybe it's a good thing._

_It just doesn't feel like one._

He sighed again to himself and lay on his hard bed, on top of the covers, with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He crossed one long leg over the other one, and thought perhaps he could catch a nap before another inevitable phone call came. He usually didn't need very much sleep-but he felt like it now, for some reason.

--

_Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below._

The words echoed in his head as he woke with a start; the sunset replaced with a clear night sky. He had no idea how long he had slept; perhaps he had been more tired than he thought. He didn't sleep very often, anymore. Dreams, indeed. He really wished he hadn't of dreamed these things; he had a feeling he would. They say that sometimes people dream what is heavily on their mind; sometimes they dream nothing of the sort.

He wished it would have been the latter.

He saw he had missed a call; from headquarters. No doubt he would have work tonight. He almost welcomed it. Sitting here alone was not something he wanted to do right now. He stood, stretched, and rubbed his eyes, smoothing down his impossibly long hair.

He did not feel very comfortable at this moment.

He checked the time of the call, and the current time; they must have called right after he had drifted off. _Must have been deep, _he thought to himself. _I usually don't sleep so deeply. _ _I usually also don't dream...such...things._ He could still smell her scent, even though it wasn't really in the room, at the moment. Cursing himself for his weakness...his very human weakness, he walked into the small bathroom.

--

The phone started to ring again after a few moments. His head was leaning against the wall, he was panting heavily, cursing himself even further, as he violently tugged.

_This is preposterous, _he thought angrily. _Like a god damned schoolboy having his first wet dream._

He had to, though. After the dream he had, he felt like he needed it. He couldn't remember the last time he did this. His panting grew as he tugged and stroked at his manhood, standing in the bathroom, his trousers open, occasionally looking behind him as if someone would actually come to his quarters and see the great Sephiroth reduced to this...this state.

The closer the relief came, the more disgusted he felt with himself. But her smooth, pale skin tasted so good in the dream...and he could still smell her. She was on his lap, her dress down. He was indulging in every part of her pure body, the two of them loving every second of it. _Why now? _He thought, tugging faster, feeling himself about to finally climax, as his breathing grew ragged. _I had seen her several times before and never looked twice. Why the hell now?_

He growled, wanting his release to come...thinking back to the dream.

They had embraced, and kissed...her small hands on his chest, his mouth tracing over he lips, neck, chest...her breasts. He had started to sample the soft skin of her thighs when he heard the familiar voice above him, flying through the hole in the church roof, saying the line that rang in his head. 

_What the hell...was Genesis doing in the dream..._He had woken up at that point, but the feeling hadn't left him.

He growled loudly as his climax came; he continued to tug, as his seed released from him in a jet, as if he hadn't had release in a very long time.

_It...has...been a very long time._

When he finished, he cursed himself again as he cleaned up himself and parts of the bathroom. He stomped out of the room angrily, and saw his phone. He didn't bother calling back-he just decided to go right to headquarters.

He pulled on his jacket and took his sword; he was hoping inside to get to kill a few things tonight. He felt like letting off some steam.

-- 

**A/N: **Not much to say here. Not a long chapter. The story will continue in chapter 3! EDIT: Sorry about the bad formatting...I have no idea what happened. Fixed it, however.


	3. Attraction

**Disclaimer: **As always, I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters in it, they belong to Square. These are written for fun, not profit.

--

**Attraction**

**--**

_He could have done a better job of these copies. They die so easily._

There were still several Genesis copies left, who had overrun Sector 8. Sephiroth had already cut swaths through the rest of them effortlessly, they barely landed a scratch on him. He knew they weren't Genesis, even though they looked like him through the faceplates of the helmets they wore.

He dashed at one, swinging his sword in an arc, cutting him in two; the artificial blood which was infused with their bodies hit the pavement with a spatter. One who got too close was grabbed with his large hand by the head; a single twist snapped the neck like a twig. He ran one through on his sword that tried to run up behind him; spinning, he kicked him off and into another one who fell. He smashed the heel of his boot into the faceplate of the one who still lived, crushing the helmet and the head inside of it as he dashed toward the last two; these were cut in half with a single, savage slash, and he stood there, his job completed.

_That made me feel better, somehow._

He wiped his sword off, sheathing it, as he walked off to call in the report.

Several dozen Genesis clones had taken over Sector 8, and while there were some casualties, Sephiroth had gotten there fast enough to deal with the problem. No doubt they would sing him some praise, as they always did. It would probably feel just as empty as the last job, and the one before that.

_When did I stop caring?_

He began to walk back to headquarters, being rather close to Sector 8. But he wasn't too sleepy anymore, having taken a rather long nap earlier, and his adrenaline was still pumping. Perhaps it wouldn't go unnoticed if he checked out the other sectors to make sure no other Genesis copies were loose.

Preventing more casualties, that was all.

He began to walk down Loveless avenue; there were no people about, but a few other grunts. Some saluted him as he walked by. He spared them a short nod. The young grunts all looked up to him, after all...so many aspired to be him.

_I'm probably not much different than you, in my thoughts._

Perhaps Sector 5 should be looked at. There were quite a few people...and...shops there that had to be checked out.

It wouldn't hurt to make sure Aerith was okay as well, for Zack's sake. He would want him to maybe take a look, after all.

_If Tseng isn't already watching her._

He sometimes wondered Tseng's true motives at times. There was something...about that man, he thought to himself as he walked. There was more to his little spying jobs that he was letting on. He sometimes wondered why a few of the higher-ups never had him check her out. He was a good a protector as any...better even than the Turks, whom he could beat all at once if they decided to rush him.

_I think of Tseng's other motives. Perhaps I might have a few deep down, myself._

He pushed those feelings down as he kept walking. He didn't feel like taking the train this time, either.

--

He stood outside of the church, looking up at the tall doors. He debated checking inside, as he figured Aerith would be sleeping right now, if she had a sort of normal schedule. He wasn't sure. He turned around, only to run into her small form, which was coming up behind him. He started.

''Sephiroth?'' she sounded a bit surprised.

''Yes. I was checking to see if the area was secure. There was some trouble...''

''I know, Sector 8. I heard the commotion. I don't sleep too much, and I felt like coming here to make sure the flowers were okay.''

''You would risk your life for some flowers?''

''I knew I'd be alright. I had a feeling they would be dealt with.''

''They are,'' he sighed.

''Besides, I'm the only one who really cares for them. My mother worries about me.''

_God, she still lives at home. _He found his eyes wandering up and down her again. He thought back to the dream, of his arms around her, his lips against her skin. _No. I should not think of this now._

''Well, if everything is all right...''

''What were they?'' she suddenly asked.

''Just...monsters.'' He spat out the word.

She nodded. The contempt in his voice told her much. She was a perceptive young lady after all...and highly empathic. ''You seem bothered by them.''

''Perhaps I am. Perhaps I feel like we are somewhat at fault. Maybe I think I know them, somehow.'' He turned to look back at the church.

_Maybe I should stay here awhile. The Turks surely couldn't be here now, what with all the commotion that went on. Maybe I should take it upon myself to look after her in their place._

Zack might have liked that, too, he was certain.

''Do...you mind if I stay here awhile? I...I kind of liked it. I don't get to see things like that too often around here.''

She smiled and nodded. ''It's fine. I can tell you need a bit of calming down, somehow.'' She was still nervous around him, but she didn't feel like he would mean her any harm at this moment.

Feeling more pangs of guilt stabbing at him, he sat again on the front pew, and watched her tend the flowers.

_Just making sure the copies don't come back. Part of my duties was to clean out and guard Midgar tonight. I'm just guarding it. This is an area of Midgar, after all, _he blankly reassured himself.

He sat, with his eyes closed for awhile, letting the fresh smell of living things reach his nose, calming him again. While he was their top warrior, a soldier who could be merciless at times, and yet show mercy in others...hard on anyone he was commanding, if only to make them into better warriors...he had some tastes for a few things. The flowers in Midgar sort of did something to him.

_Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below._

''I used to be scared of the Shin-Ra army, and the people of Soldier. I...still maybe am, in a way. But...Zack...and you...seem different.''

He started, his eyes opening. ''Why do you say that?''

''You seem more concerned. About things.'' She brushed back her hair, and walked around to look at the small garden. ''You know, goings on down here.'' She then walked over to sit by him on the pew, looking into his eyes again.

She did find his eyes rather enticing.

He blinked and looked down. ''Just...doing our jobs. That's all.'' He sat back, staring at the wall, one leg crossed over the other.

''Somethings bothering you.'' It was not a question.

_Two of my best friends have gone rogue, one of them making copies of himself to overrun the place. He thinks himself a sort of god. I'm being ordered to dispose of them both, and I have to choose between my allegiance, my job, and everything I have worked for, and my friends. I have nothing to turn to, if I'm not some sort of soldier. On top of all of this, I'm having feelings-carnal, dirty feelings-for a girl who is a teenager still living at home, whom one of my comrades-the one who is still completely sane and holding himself together, and who has more heart than probably all of SOLDIER put together-happens to care about. What could possibly be wrong?_

''Don't concern yourself with it.'' He looked to the roof, where the hole was. ''You should have seen the sunset tonight. It's colors...reminded me of some of the flowers here. You would have liked it.'' He turned toward her. Certainly he could look upon her without losing himself like some stupid schoolboy.

She blinked, not pressing him. ''I...maybe one day, I'll see one.'' She looked again into his eyes. ''Your eyes, they're a bit greener than the rest.''

''We all come out slightly different.''

''I can't imagine having Mako inside of me. It's the lifeblood of the planet, after all.'' She sighed. ''The planet suffers because of it, though.''

''How can a planet suffer?''

''It's more alive than most people think. I can...feel it. I...can't agree with Shin-Ra's methods. But...I don't hold it against the people who work there.''

''That all is...none of my concern. I take my orders, and give them out to those below me.''

''There's more to you than a...'' she trailed off.

''Killing machine?'' he said, a bit too sharply. ''I came to make sure everything here was ok, not to be lectured on morals.''

''I...I apologize, sir.''

''Please, don't call me that,'' he said quickly. _Don't make yourself sound any younger than you already are. I don't think I could take it. _''Just call me Sephiroth.''

She nodded. ''Yes, Sephiroth.'' She looked into his eyes again.

He looked down, sighing again. He did that more often as of late. ''I'm sorry if I snapped. Under a lot of stress, lately. We've been very busy.''

She nodded. ''I understand. The attacks happen every week now, sometimes more often.''

''Zack had called me. He's doing fine on his job.''

She smiled. ''Is he getting back soon?''

''It depends on how fast he can get his job done. He's good, as I said, I wouldn't worry about him. A bit impulsive, but good.'' He thought maybe discussing Zack would help his thoughts return to normal.

''Could you...tell me what the sunset looked like that you saw tonight?''

He looked at her, and nodded, a tiny smile forming in the corner of his mouth. ''It was red, orange, pink, and purple...the yellow of the sun had gone away. It was reflecting on the water, on the ripples that formed...''

_Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below._

...''Yes?'' she asked. Sephiroth had trailed off.

''Uh, yes. Sorry. But...it was...quite beautiful, if I could say so. One of the nicer ones in awhile.''

''Purple and pink in the sky. From what I know, the sun is yellow, and the sky is blue.''

''Sunsets can do funny things like that.''

''Sounds like something that would be in a dream.''

''But it's real.''

''What about sunrises? Do they look as beautiful?'' She tried to picture the colors of the sunset in her head, and it indeed looked pretty to her. But she was still a bit nervous about being under the wide open sky.

''They can. I've seen plenty of them, as well. I've been around a bit longer than you,'' he managed to chuckle...perhaps a bit nervously. _I like this discussion, yet I don't like it, for some reason. Or maybe I'm still feeling this...guilt. God, we're just talking about the sky!_

She found herself staring again at the man. He was a beautiful man, she found herself thinking. Tall, powerfully built, impossibly strong...with the most exotic head of hair she had ever seen, and those Mako eyes. She didn't find herself with any sort of...inner attraction, but she felt a sort of sadness coming from him, that something was indeed bothering him. He was carrying a bit of weight. It was in her personality to want to help people, as imposing as this one was.

But...he was still beautiful.

She too found herself shaking her head. She always found him attractive, but sitting there talking to him for so long sort of forced her to look at him some more. She shifted a bit uncomfortably.

''I...I better get back to headquarters. I need to give a report, and I haven't slept much. They'll be sending me out on another job tomorrow, I think.'' He stood up. ''When Zack comes back, get him to show you a sunrise or a sunset. I'm sure he'd be happy to.'' The words choked in his throat again. He hoped she wouldn't notice.

''Yes.'' She wondered what she said or did to cause his sudden change of mood. He was probably used to teenagers-and women-ogling over him by now, but in a private place like this, he probably mentally sneered at it.

Besides, she already kind of liked someone.

''I'll probably be back around the sectors. What with all the attacks.'' He bowed again.

''Maybe we'll see again?'' she asked. He thought he detected a bit of hopefulness to her voice, but he wasn't sure. He actually hoped that he _didn't. _He didn't need things more complicated than they already were.

''Maybe.'' He smiled again, slightly. He turned, leaving her alone in the church.

Aerith looked up at the hole in the church ceiling, the one that Zack fell through. She knew Zack would be ok on his job.

She was a bit confused at these other feelings, though.

Why was it that sometimes women had a small, subconscious attraction to the dangerous ones?

--

**A/N: **ARG! Again edited, because the formatting messed up. It's fine on the other chapters, for some reason...sorry again about that.


	4. Temptation

**Disclaimer: **As always, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters therein. They belong to Square, and I make no money of these fics.

--

**Temptation**

--

''It'll get taken care of, I said.''

''Yes, we know. You'll get to it on your own free time.'' Tseng looked mildly annoyed, but he further held his tongue.

Sephiroth glared up from the documents he was reading. He didn't like when the Turks took it upon themselves to try to order him around. They were sort of special, in a way, as well...they didn't have too many of the rules they had to follow, much like him. They could dress how they wanted(they chose the suits), and work as they wanted. They sort of handled more of the ''dirty work'' that even SOLDIER didn't like to touch.

They weren't all bad guys...but they could get annoying.

''I'm busy, at the moment. I don't read so well with people looking over my shoulder.'' He continued glaring at Tseng.

Tseng muttered under his breath and walked out. They didn't have any particular hatred or enmity toward one another, but Sephiroth could be a rather hard one to control, at times. Not that they were really trying to control him. They just needed his hand on some work that they knew he, if anyone, could handle quickly and quietly. The higher ups had came to them. Even the higher-ups didn't like going directly to Sephiroth half of the time, it seemed.

Sephiroth paged through more documents...dealing with Genesis, Project G, and other disturbing things which he wasn't too sure of. Things he wasn't sure he really wanted, or needed to be reading at the moment, what with everything going on. He was due to go off on another job for a few more days. It had been about three days since his last time in Midgar. It was perhaps good.

He sort of missed the calm of the church, though. The flowers were nice.

He shook his head and put the damning documents away for awhile, he felt that he had enough. His head was starting to hurt. He felt like things he had worked for were coming apart somewhat at the seams, and he didn't really need that, what with everything else that had been on his mind.

As he walked out of the room, he saw Zack walking down the hallway, looking a touch dejected. It was unlike him.

''Zack.'' He nodded his head in acknowledgment.

''Sephiroth.'' He saluted. ''Man, they're sendin' me away again! I just got in.''

''As I've said before, Zack. It's SOLDIER. Get used to it.'' He paused. ''I heard you were successful on your last mission.''

''I was.'' He managed to smile, puffing up a bit like the teenager that he still was. ''Very successful. You would have been proud.''

''We shall see when I come with you again on a mission.'' He was sorry that he was getting sent away again. He really wished he would have gotten to spend some time with Aerith. He thought it would have been a good thing for them to see each other again.

_It would keep her from looking at me the way she does, and causing my dreams to be filled with pleasures of the flesh._

_''_Did you get a chance to go to Midgar?''

''No, damn it. They told us to prepare and go already.''

_Damn. _''Well, go and come back. I'm sure things will work out.'' He turned to walk off.

''Right. Hey, make sure everything's okay down there, will you?''

Sephiroth stopped, looking down. He was silent for a minute. ''I will.'' _Why did he have to ask me that?_

Zack smiled, nodded, and ran off.

_If they were actually together, I might be able to resist more. I know I could. I should be able to resist this, but..._

He continued on, to get his briefing for the upcoming mission from Director Lazard. It seemed to be a more traditional mission; as in search and destroy. Easy enough. He could go, finish it, and come back.

He could get some more of that aggression out of his system while he was at it. Maybe more time away from that cursed Sector 5 would help things, in the long run.

_Or as Genesis would no doubt say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, making things worse than they already are. On my side, anyway. Maybe she'll get over her mild teenage stares._

_--_

On his way out of the SOLDIER office, he bumped into Tseng, who happened to be walking down the hallway. He gave a curt nod.

''On your way out?'' he asked.

''Soon, yes,'' Sephiroth replied in a cool tone. ''No doubt you guys have some clever business to attend as well.''

''Perhaps we do. Any plans before you leave?''

''My room. Alone.'' _I need it._

_''_I can't help but notice you don't go out too much.''

''I'm not like you guys.'' He had seen Reno walking around with a hangover more times than he could remember. He wasn't like the Turks, indeed.

''Hm. In a bit of a mood today, as usual.''

''Are you trying to annoy me today, Tseng?''

''Not at all.'' He turned to walk away. ''Perhaps you could go to pray, or whatever. I hear that church in Sector 5 is a nice place.'' He gave Sephiroth a look that said, _I know where you've been._

Tseng didn't have time to move as the larger man had him against the wall, his forearm at his neck. He looked at him calmly, however. No one was around.

''It would be in your best interest, Tseng, if you knew nothing of that. Understood?'' He pressed harder into the man's neck. He gasped for breath, his eyes showing a small amount of fear; something they did not do very often.

''Y...Yes,'' he managed to say. He looked a bit surprised at Sephiroth's sudden and rather violent reaction.

Sephiroth pulled his arm away from his throat, and stepped back, allowing the man to breathe and stand up. He glared at him, before turning to walk away.

_What did he say that for? Why did I react like that, anyway? _He shook his head. He certainly wasn't acting like himself.

Going to his room seemed to be the best thing to do at the moment, right now.

--

Aerith stood back to look at the flowers again, which were growing nicely. She had spoken to Zack on the phone, and he had to run rather quickly; once again she would not be able to see him. She was disappointed, naturally, but understanding of his work. They hadn't even really had a proper date, yet. Just a small one.

She fixed a few more of the flowers, and saw some blooming in purples, pinks, and oranges...and thought of the sunset Sephiroth was telling her about.

_''It was red, orange, pink, and purple...the yellow of the sun had gone away. It was reflecting on the water, on the ripples that formed...''_

His words echoed in her head. She wondered why she was so afraid to see the open sky. She thought about that a lot. Both Zack and Sephiroth had told her there was nothing to fear from it. Maybe she would, one day, soon. After filling Midgar with flowers, she would step above, to the open sky, to spread more around, and maybe see her first sunset. A sunrise, too. Hopefully plenty of them.

She stretched, and breathed in their pleasant scent. She considered going back out to the market, but didn't want to leave the church yet. It relaxed her too much.

She heard a door open behind her. It wasn't Zack, she could sense. The footsteps were heavier, slower...more deliberate.

''Sephiroth?'' she turned around, to see him walking toward her, his silver hair streaming everywhere. She shook her head.

''It's me. Just doing...one last check of the sectors,'' he lied. _I said I'd keep a look out here, besides. So I'm doing it for a good reason._

''Everything's been fine here. No more attacks since a few days ago.''

''Understood. I'm going off too...most of our good operatives are off. Zack will probably be gone for a couple more weeks.''

''He told me.''

''I'll be back in a few days. I's my duty to watch out for these sectors. So just...get in touch with me if something happens.'' It was only half a lie. He _was _sort of in charge of this at the moment, and he did say to Zack he'd keep an eye out. What he didn't say was that he volunteered for both, to let himself be closer to the girl. He had trouble denying it, now, even after a week.

She smiled. ''I trust you.''

_You shouldn't. _''Here. Take my number.'' He handed her a piece of paper. ''This will...contact me directly, if there is trouble. I'll come to deal with it. It's a lot faster than having to wait for Shin-Ra to send some grunts, who may or may not be able to handle things.'' He managed a smile. ''I admit, it's better than getting sent to all of these...out of the way places to guard and investigate reactors.'' _And hunt down my old best friends with the intent to kill them. But we won't talk about that._

_''_Ok, then. Good luck on your mission.'' She looked up at him. ''And thanks.''

He looked down at her, into her eyes again. She was standing a bit closer to him, this time.

''Just doing my job, Aerith.'' He looked at her a bit longer; waiting for her to say something, or for him to speak. He grunted softly, turned, and walked out, leaving her standing there, mildly confused.

_What was that about? _She wondered, taking the number into one of her pockets. _The look in his eyes...it was...different than most of the other times. Or was it?_

She blinked to herself. She again told herself she had no interest in the man...in that way...but yes, there was some sort of...kindred spirit in him, in some distant way she could not put a finger on. The more she was around him, the more she felt...something. She just wasn't sure what.

It sometimes made her a bit angry at herself. She was interested in another man already...but why was there some sort of...feeling inside of her whenever Sephiroth had been coming around the last week? She was still pure, she had barely even dated before. She was seventeen years old, and still lived at home with her mother, who could worry about her from being out in the slums with the constant monster attacks.

She had to stop lying to herself; she had thought about...things before. There was something about the beautiful, silver-haired man with eyes of the most unnatural blue-green she had ever seen; something enticing.

Forbidden, maybe. She knew he was older than her...by at least ten years, if not more...but it did not take away from his beauty. He was stronger than anyone she had ever met; and she knew he was probably the most dangerous man she knew as well.

_So what is it? What is it about him? _

She had recalled hearing things about women being attracted to dangerous men. She didn't really think about that for a long time. Zack, in a way, could be dangerous. He was a very strong fighter; stronger than any normal man she knew certainly, and had battled many, many monsters and enemies in his short time in SOLDIER. He was certainly someone who you didn't want to cross. Sephiroth, though, was different. Zack had a very pleasant, outgoing personality; you didn't sense danger from him. Skill, strength, conviction, yes...but also a more heroic attitude and a protective streak. Sephiroth, even though he was a renowned hero, struck her as infinitely more dangerous in any situation; he was a man not to be trifled with. The stories that surrounded him trickled all over the slums, that he fought a hundred men single-handedly, that he defeated powerful creatures with but one blow from his sword, that he was once captured after a unit was gassed but escaped, killing the captors of the Shin-Ra soldiers while his arms were shackled and he was blindfolded, even the stories of him wrestling a Midgar Zolom and killing it. She didn't know how many of these were true, and how many were tall tales-the people of the slums loved to talk, especially in the many watering holes where tales could grow to massive proportions, depending on the alcohol intake-but he was dangerous, she sensed, to be sure.

_And I think I might somehow be attracted to that._

She had been trying to deny it. She wasn't that type of girl; she had pictured herself waiting for the right man, dating slowly, settling down, and perhaps then some children, as she tended her flowers. She thought of herself as traditional, even though she knew somehow she was different. When she was around Zack, she felt completely like this, in fact.

When she was around Sephiroth, even in this short time, she felt something else.

She wanted to call it lust, but she felt that might have been too strong a word. _I hope. _

Curiosity, perhaps. Curiosity about being with a man who knew what he was doing. Who was older, more experienced in everything.

Who was bloody beautiful, when you got down to it.

While Aerith felt different, she still felt human, and this was one of those moments.

She sighed to herself, fumbling around her pocket for the phone number. She thought about losing it; this way, she couldn't call if she was tempted. But she kept it, for some reason. Maybe monsters would attack, she thought as she tended the flowers...which were apparently the color of a sunset.

His soft, deep voice echoed in her mind, whether she wanted it to or not, apparently. He certainly had a presence and magnetism about him, so much that he could penetrate one's mind without even trying.

_Another word I don't think I want to think about right now, _she thought to herself, feeling suddenly dirty, like she wanted a shower.

She hoped that her mind would settle itself, soon. She wasn't sure she liked where it was going.

The scarier thing was, she wasn't sure if she _disliked _it, either.

--

**A/N: **These chapters aren't huge, but I suppose they get the point across, enough. I suppose you can say the fic takes place over a three or so week time period, for those wondering.


	5. Desperation

**Disclaimer: **As it was with the rest of the chapters, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of it's characters. No money is made off of this fanfiction.

--

**Desperation**

--

The job ended up lasting over a week, which Sephiroth was grateful for. He wanted some time away from the Slums, the headquarters, the documents, and the Turks...and his own mind. He was able to fill it with...well, monster slaughter instead. Upon returning, though, he was disheartened to hear that Zack had not returned yet, though he was still doing quite well; the job ended up taking longer than necessary. _I have a feeling I know why, too._

_Why, you two. Why did you do this to us, _he thought, his mental voice dripping with betrayal and sadness.

He missed his old friends, he missed the times they had training, and his missed the past, there was no denying it to himself. He tried to look to the future, but the more documents he read, and the more he realized that he had a feeling his old friends were not going to make it out of this alive, made it very difficult to be positive about things.

He sighed deeply, and walked back to his room, somewhat feeling his age for once. Well, all thirty years of it. He wasn't _that _old, but walking through a crowd of fresh-faced seventeen and eighteen year old grunts and 3rd-class soldiers, with their dreams of making it big, sure made him feel that way.

He wished he could have memories like that. His memories were filled with nothingness, and then...being a soldier, then a general. That was it.

He reached his room and stripped his coat off, his mood rather foul. Tseng had seen him as he walked back in; he was leaving to help Zack out, apparently. He spared Sephiroth a glance, but said nothing to him. Just as well. Tseng knew when to keep his mouth shut.

_For his sake, he better._

He sat on the edge of his bed, and looked out the window again.

Sunrise.

Again, in the beautiful colors...more red and orange this time. He had gotten back early after a long drive and helicopter flight; he wanted sleep right now, he wanted to maybe eat something. It wasn't a hard job, but it was a long, tiring one...and he was mentally tired, as well. Very mentally tired.

He closed his eyes for what he thought was only a few moments, but it could have been longer, judging by the way the light had changed. His phone was ringing. He shook his head, shaking the remnants of the dream away, and the pleasant scent..._flowers..._away from himself.

He wasn't sure who was calling, but he answered. Someone from headquarters, perhaps?

''Sephiroth?''

''A..Aerith?'' he answered. _I should have known. With the way my luck has been going. _''Is everything okay there?''

''Fine,'' she answered. ''We haven't had any serious attacks. The few monsters were able to be dealt with...nothing we haven't seen.''

''Why are you calling?'' He figured he would ask straight out.

''I...'' There was silence.

_Why would you be calling me, if there wasn't some problem there? _

He didn't know if he wanted to know the answer.

''I was thinking of a few things...that's all. Things you mentioned to me.''

He sighed on the other line, but not in an unpleasant manner. _Do I want to go there?_

''Sephiroth?''

''I'll be there in awhile. There are some things I have to do today in Sector 5 anyway.'' That wasn't totally true, but he would find something. He was sure there was some more information to be gathered, perhaps.

The Genesis copies were everywhere, after all.

''O...ok. I'll be in the church,'' she said, a bit reluctantly. _She's hiding something, too._

_I don't know if I want to meet there. _But he would at least go there...maybe take her somewhere else. Perhaps so the Turks wouldn't be led on.

''I'll need to take care of some things first. I won't be able to get there until tonight.'' He hung up, quickly. It might have been a bit rude, but perhaps that might drive her away a bit. Which would be a good thing, after all.

He decided he wanted a shower before he left. He had just come back from a mission, and he felt like he could use one. He stripped and turned it has hot as he could handle it-which was very hot, indeed-and stood inside. The weather was quite chilly outside now, so the heat felt rather welcome.

He stood there, the hot water pouring over him and his hair, trying to keep his thoughts on more work-related things, else he start thinking about showers too hard.

Especially showers with another person in there with them.

_Now, I know I'm going too far._

He snarled and punched the wall; it cracked easily under his fist. He left it there, unmindful. He would fix it later. He held back, so his fist didn't go through the wall, at least. It wasn't like him to lose his temper like a boy, but emotions finally overcame him a bit. He was frustrated, and he was out of enemies to hit.

_What is it going to take to get her out of my mind?_

He was afraid for the answer.

He got out of the shower, drying a bit, wrapping the towel around himself, before lying back on his bed, hands under his head. He stared at an interesting looking speck on the ceiling, trying to put off his little trip, perhaps being late would help matters a bit. People didn't usually like when others were late and didn't tell them.

He found himself moving, though...when he was alone, he was lost too deeply in his thoughts, which ran an uncomfortable range of topics. Still frustrated, he began to dress himself. Maybe it would be better to just tell her; get it out of the way, explain that he did not want to work that way, if things began to get a bit too...heated. He was a perceptive man, and could see that she was looking at him many times in much of the same way-why, he didn't know, but she did-even though she had interest in another. He was the greatest soldier who had ever lived, surely he could explain things to a seventeen year old that it should stay distant, but maybe at least cordial, between them. Or that he had no interest.

The second option would be a bald-faced lie, on top of it...and he was pretty sure she could figure that out.

He put his coat on, and turned to look out the window one last time before going to fill his day with random busywork. _Perhaps a bit of training will set my mind at ease._

_--_

Dusk had rolled around, and he found himself trudging toward Sector 5, to the church, again. He had delved into the data room's files for awhile, and again, he had read things that made his head hurt. Taking more aggression out in the training room, he was actually glad to get out of there.

_What's happening? It's like my entire world is changing. So quickly, too. _

As he approached the church, he found himself calmed, a bit. This very place seemed to have an aura like that. The sun was long down, and there was a definite chill in the air.

He saw Aerith, in her blue dress with a jacket over it, waiting outside.

''Why aren't you inside?'' was the first thing he asked.

''I...don't know. It doesn't smell so bad in this part of the slums...I guess I wanted to catch what little breeze can make it in through the plates.''

''Still not wanting to go outside?'' He managed a little smile.

She returned it. ''Maybe...not yet. I guess I'm waiting for...the right time.''

They stood in a slightly awkward silence for awhile. One could almost feel some sort of tension in the air; it wasn't necessarily a bad tension...but almost like they were waiting for the inevitable to happen.

_It's like we both know something...but aren't saying anything._

''We should head out of here. To somewhere.''

She nodded. ''Yeah...the park, maybe.'' She seemed to know what he was thinking. She could read between the lines; _we shouldn't be seen like this, at this time of night. People might...think something._

The walk to the park was short; he leaned against one of the walls, not feeling like sitting at the moment. He had been sitting most of the day in the data room, and his well-muscled body was used to a lot of exercise. She sat close to him, on a bench, looking up...still not saying anything.

_Like a couple of teenagers sneaking out after dark. How cute._

''I do sometimes...think I'm being watched, still.''

''With everything going on, it's natural.''

She looked up at him. ''I've always felt different. Special somehow. I still don't know why. My mother doesn't tell me much of it...but I've always had a sort of gift.'' She looked down. ''If you consider being able to tell if someone passes on a gift.''

''At least you can get...closure on things. Better than not knowing, perhaps.''

''You seem sometimes like me. Like you have gifts.''

_If you knew where I got mine from, you'd probably run away. I'm getting a rather sinking feeling about this all._

''Many of us do, in SOLDIER. They...make sure of it.''

''It sounds...unnatural. I feel like I've had mine forever. I didn't know...my real mother or father.''

''Neither do I.'' He turned toward her again. ''It might be what you feel.''

''Maybe...but...ah, perhaps it's all silly.'' She sighed, but smiled up again. The girl didn't seem to let things get her down. He found himself envying that a bit. ''I don't know why I wanted to talk to you, exactly. You seem like you...know things. More things than many others.''

_I don't know as much as you think. But...if it makes you feel better. I'm sure..._He pushed the thought of his comrade out of his head. He didn't want to think of him right now.

It just made his guilt worse. He knew he had been looking at her the entire time she was talking, when she was looking out to the distance, and he was sure she knew, because he knew she had done the same to him.

He sat next to her on the bench. _Stop this, now. It's...nothing right now. If this keeps going, it will be something...and then something else. Do you want it to go that far, you fool?_

But a beautiful young woman had the ability to turn any man into a fool, even if she wasn't trying. Aerith wasn't the type to try to lead men on; he could feel nothing of the sort from her. She only had to sit there, being...herself.

He supposed it could go both ways.

''Do you ever wonder about your real parents?''

''Sometimes. I think we all do.''

''I know my mother's name, that's all. I don't know where she was from, or how she died. I only know her name. I don't even remember growing up.''

She nodded. ''I remember growing up...I remember my foster mother took me in, right from the slums...from the trainyard. I had thought of her as my mother ever since. I was so young, then.''

_You're still so young, _he thought to himself. ''So you've never been above ground.''

''Never, than what I can remember. I was always...scared.''

''Perhaps it's old memories. You'll get over it, I think.''

''Maybe I will. I think I will.'' She nodded to herself, rubbing her hands together. She placed them back at her sides.

He found himself absently laying his hand over one. It was a bit cold. She tensed, but didn't shrug him away. He had no idea what he was doing, but she seemed cold, and it was just a reassuring hand. He stroked it a few times before taking it away.

''You'll find your answers. Hopefully in less time than I've been looking for mine. I'm still looking. I just...don't like what I see. I think it might be better off for myself...and maybe others, if I didn't know everything.''

''That's an odd thing to say.''

''Maybe,'' he said, softly. Aerith found herself enjoying the tone of his voice, it was...soothing somehow. Deep, soothing, and mature.

The silence they sat in was less uncomfortable this time, but there was definitely still some sort of tension in the air. He knew exactly what it was, too.

They both seemed to be waiting, still.

He turned toward her again, finally...meeting her gaze.

''Are you okay?'' she asked, suddenly.

''Fine,'' he replied, in a low voice. Sitting this close to her, his mind had started to wander in the silence. First it was over things he had read, then it had come to her. It always came back to her.

He began to not care about anything...he wanted to touch her. He was angry at himself, but he was tired of denying it.

He reached his hand out-he wasn't wearing his gloves tonight-and touched her hair, running his hand through it, cursing himself in his mind.

_Some friend you are. _He wasn't extremely close to Zack, but he considered himself at least a comrade in arms, and he did like the young man.

He had weaknesses, though. The great Sephiroth had weaknesses, oh yes.

Aerith at first pulled back, looking at him a bit surprised...but she didn't pull completely away.

''S...Sephiroth?''

''Sorry.'' He turned back, giving her hair one last stroke. It was soft...so very soft. He could still smell the flowers on her, and he thought back to the dream he had about two weeks before.

Where he had to handle himself like a teenager in the bathroom afterward.

He shivered.

''Are you cold?'' she asked, sitting a couple of inches closer.

''No,'' he said. ''Maybe...I should go now.''

''You...don't have to.''

''Things are going in a direction that...it might be better if they didn't go.'' He was straight with her, finally.

She looked down. He could tell she felt as guilty as he did.

With her, it was the curiosity. He was older, experienced, and beautiful on top of it. Intelligent, too. Strong. She did somehow feel safe with him there. She knew she was young, and young people had natural curiosity.

Some of them act on it. She was going down that path. Part of her wanted to turn back, there was someone interested in her, and her in him, even though they weren't dating yet. She didn't feel like she was cheating, but something felt...wrong about this. At the same time, she had a hard time helping herself.

She reached out, and ran a hand through his silver hair. She had been wanting to know at least how that felt. Perhaps her curiosity would be satiated with something simple, like this.

His eyes closed, as he felt her small hand running through it. He opened them again, looking at her.

''You...we...shouldn't do this.''

It felt so nice, though.

He reached out again, running his hand through the full length of her hair, starting from her head. Brushing his hand through it, again and again. She leaned her head into it...a bit reluctant, but she soon gave into the feeling. Her hand reached up, over his.

_I can still stop this. It hasn't gone too far._

He didn't want to, though.

His hand traced to her face; the skin smooth, her eyes still looking into his. He felt a mixture of self-loathing, attraction, and outright arousal. His mind was turning several ways at once; it was enough to drive a man mad.

He traced his thumb over her lips; several times...he finally felt her brush a kiss against it.

_Damn you...you aren't supposed to want this, either._

Her own mind was racing; she also didn't know why she wanted this, totally. She had the curiosity, still. A warmth was spreading low in her stomach...she wanted to stop it, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't feeling too good with herself, either. But she still kissed his thumb as it passed over, again.

He wanted to take her in so many ways right now, it made him feel dirty just thinking about it.

While his thoughts were spinning, he took her head in his other hand, leaned forward, and kissed her, with little ceremony. He kept his lips to hers; closed at first, opening them after a short time to probe with his tongue. She tensed rather hard; he was about to break it, when she slowly opened her mouth, letting his tongue inside.

_She isn't making this any easier...damn it. Damn it all._

His hands wrapped around her back; hers touched his chest for a moment before wrapping around him as well; feeling out his muscles under his long, leather jacket, running through his hair. His breathing grew heavy before he finally released her, pushing her slightly away. He sat down, his head in his hand.

She kissed so pure. He knew she had never kissed anyone before.

_I stole her first kiss._

He had a sinking feeling if this kept up, he'd be stealing something else, as well. He pushed that thought out of his head as quickly as he could.

''I...I'm sorry...'' she started to say. ''Did I do...something wrong?''

_This whole thing is wrong. It's not just you, though. We both are doing something wrong right now._

''No. It...'' He turned toward her again, allowing his hand to run through her hair, down her face.

Why was she so beautiful?

Before he could think, he brushed her hair aside, leaned down, and pressed his lips to her neck.

She shuddered at the feeling of his warm mouth against her skin, which was cooled from the breeze-it felt too good. It made her feel a bit dirty again as well; she found herself leaning her head back, despite her thoughts.

She wanted to stop this as well, as much as he did...but she didn't want to. Like any girl, she had thoughts...she wondered what it was like to do some things. She just didn't know why they were with him. She moaned softly as his lips parted, and his tongue snaked out slowly, to taste her skin.

It tasted even better than it did in the dream.

_There will be a point of no return, soon. _

He continued tracing his lips around her neck, her sitting right next to him, her head leaning against his shoulder, as he worked; his hand found her waist.

He finally pulled away, sparing her neck one more lick, as he leaned back, breathing heavily. She sat next to him, still shivering; she enjoyed that way too much, she thought.

''I...really think I should go now,'' he said, in a low, somewhat quivering voice.

''Sephiroth...'' she started. Her hand found his, and fumbled into it.

_Damn it, wo...girl, why are you doing this? Do you want this? Do you really want this?_

''Look, tomorrow...if you want, just...meet me by the train...around this time.'' He stood up suddenly, fumbling his hand out of hers. ''If you want. You can stay here, if you like. I'm not making you. Just...'' _If she really wants this...as much as I do...she will. If not...if she has a day to cool off, she might decide the right thing and not show up. For that, I would be grateful. Maybe one of us has common sense._

''By the train?''

''Yes. We can take a trip...I have my...SOLDIER gets their...own quarters.'' She was smart enough, he figured, to read between the lines. ''Again...you can stay here, if you like.''

''Why are you leav...''

''It's not a good idea if we...here, now. The walls have ears...and eyes.''

She nodded. ''Sephiroth...'' She stood next to him...and planted a single kiss on his chest, before turning quickly to walk away. She was walking a bit...wobbly. He grabbed her before she could get far, pulled her toward him, and kissed her on the lips again; full on, letting his tongue dart inside her mouth again, hers following...clumsy, like a new kisser would. It was no less arousing, though. The sick part of him thought it was even more so...because he was the one breaking her in. He let her go after that.

_Please, make the right decision. It's up to you. I've got enough self-loathing right now as it is. Be the one to stop this. I don't think I can anymore._

He watched to make sure she got back to the path to the church safely. He could do that, at least.

**A/N: **I guess we'll find out what happens, here...hopefully everyone is still with me. This story has been a little harder to write than my other ones.


	6. Guilt & Pleasure

**Disclaimer: **As it was with the rest of the chapters, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of it's characters. No money is made off of this fanfiction.

**Warnings: **Lemon enters here. Rather graphic...again, little left to the imagination. Don't read it, if this kind of thing offends you.

--

**Guilt & Pleasure**

--

He woke early; barely able to sleep, after the night before.

He was so turned on after that night, after actually getting to kiss, and taste her...he didn't think he could make it through the night without releasing himself again. He cursed himself the entire way back, cursed himself as he walked to his quarters, and cursed himself as he tried to get to sleep.

He had been cursing himself a lot, lately.

He filled his day once again with mindless work, avoiding the Turks as well as he could-luckily, most of them were off. He tried to ignore the gnawing feeling of having to go kill his best friends, or avoiding direct orders. He tried to push the horrible knowledge that he learned bit by bit from combing through the data room out of his head.

He started to wonder if he was doing what he was doing for a sort of comfort through all the madness, even though what he wanted was almost mad itself.

_Not mad. Human. You think she's beautiful, and you want to...experience her._

_But I'm not human._

He felt a little bad later in the day as well, sending several soldiers to the infirmary after training; he went a bit too hard on them...causing deeper cuts than need be, or even breaking a few limbs or noses. Naturally, because of who he was...things like that could be swept under the rug.

_Like Angeal and Genesis. They're sending us to kill them, sweeping those men under the rug like they never existed. Saying they're dead when they aren't. Are we all that expendable to them?_

He wondered how much longer he even wanted to stay.

_I find myself looking forward to tonight. Half of me hopes she won't show up. The other half wants her to. _

He stood out on a balcony that was attached to his quarters, shirtless, despite the chill in the air. He liked the cool feeling against his chest.

Again, the sunset was beautiful.

_She would like this so much...I'd take her out, if she wanted...No. It's not my place._

He would find out soon enough if he could go back, or not.

--

Aerith pulled her jacket around herself, as she made her way to the train station. She didn't know why she wanted to do this, either...but she did.

She hated to admit it, but the feelings that were left in her body after their short encounter yesterday were...more than pleasant. Rather than relief, her curiosity was piqued even more.

She felt horrible, too. She liked Zack, a lot. Zack was the one who she could see herself getting to know better, dating. He was tall, strong, attractive, and one of the most pleasant guys she had ever met.

But her attraction to Sephiroth, it was different...so different. A lust that she had never felt before, and every night, she felt dirtier for it...the thoughts that entered her head. He was her first kiss, now. She could not have a first kiss again.

_I still feel bad about that...but...it felt so good._

She approached the train platform, her legs wanting to turn back...but her body not wanting to. She had a feeling what might happen tonight. More of last night...and even more after that. They could go further...or maybe they wouldn't.

Maybe he wouldn't even show up...maybe he would be the one to put an end to this madness. She had nothing against him. She was as guilty as he was. They both were guilty, or neither of them were.

She waited there for awhile, looking around nervously. The train was still at the platform, according to the clock, it was due to leave in ten minutes.

Maybe he would stay back, and the train would leave. She could go back, forgetting about this, and her odd feelings. Her mother was asleep; she was used to Aerith heading to the church late at night sometimes, to care for the flowers. She wouldn't pay any mind. Aerith was almost an adult, anyhow...she behaved like one. A few more months, and she would be.

When she figured it was almost over, she heard the heavy footsteps behind her.

_He came._

She turned, and saw him pause on the stairs, looking directly at her. She couldn't tell if the look in his eyes was disappointment or relief...or a mix of both. With something else hovering around behind the green-blue irises.

''Hello. You came,'' he said, quietly.

''Yes...I...'' she trailed off.

''Come on. The train is leaving soon.''

The two walked onto the train...almost on autopilot. Not many people were there, as it was late. They walked to one of the cars further back, with a bunch of private rooms of sorts. He used a key card to open one, and motioned her in. He stepped in behind her and locked the door.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked around. The room wasn't bad. It had a small table and couch, a chair, a bed and a shelf; for a Midgar slum train it was pretty high-class, and the high ranks had access to them. With closing shutters on the windows and locking doors, they gave them privacy. They were rarely used, as well.

Sephiroth went over to close the shades, and sat next to her, on the bed, leaning against the wall. _This doesn't have to happen, _he thought. _We can just talk, and go to sleep, and tomorrow morning, early, we can forget this...idea ever happened._

''Don't Shin-Ra employees travel in...I don't know, fancier things?'' she asked, to break the slightly awkward silence.

''Sometimes. We take the trains too.''

More silence. He watched her, occasionally brushing back her hair, fidgeting rather nervously. The longer he watched her, the more he felt his inhibitions slipping away.

He reached out, touching her hair again from behind, sliding his hand down her back, scooting closer to her. He paused for a moment, to slide off his jacket. She turned to look as he did this, laying eyes on his bare torso, fully for the first time. She touched him, a bit hesitantly again, before sliding off her own jacket.

_You aren't making this easier._

He turned to sit toward her, one leg off the bed. He reached out, sliding his hands down her shoulders. They said nothing; he was taking the bull by the horns, now.

He wanted it, and he wanted her. He wanted to experience everything he started to experience in the dream, and then some. He wanted to take her this night, in a number of ways, until she was screaming in pleasure; they had all night in this room. He knew he could make her scream out, too. He knew things he could do to her...something that a virgin would barely be able to handle. He wanted to run his hands over every part of her body, and his mouth as well.

He wanted to be inside of her, too...oh yes.

He would stop if she told him to. He wished that she would.

She was more curious by the second, she wanted to know what more felt like...his kisses and touch felt wonderful...and they made her feel dirtier than she ever had. She both loved and hated it...and wanted it to continue.

She ran her hand over his torso again, and through the long mane of silver hair; it seemed to go on forever.

''Tell me...to stop...when you want,'' he breathed out, moving closer to her, sliding his arms around her now. His lips traced down from the top of her head to the side of her face.

Her arms wrapped around his back, tracing over the hard muscle. She didn't reply. She was shivering, though. He didn't know if it was due to the slight chill in the car, or something else, but he instinctively held her a bit tighter, as he continued to trace his lips over her jaw, until they met hers again, re-igniting the kiss from last night. She followed his lead; it was still a bit clumsy, but she could follow him well enough. It still turned him on to no end.

_There will be the point of no return, sometime soon._

It still wasn't too late, Aerith was thinking the same thing...but she didn't want him to stop. Not yet. She enjoyed his hot mouth against hers, and his probing tongue, flickering over her lips as he broke apart, tracing down her throat.

Her breathing grew heavier. She didn't know anything that felt quite like this. Her stomach was in knots; partially from excitement, partially from arousal, partially from guilt. But she continued.

No one was perfect.

He sat back to lay her down on the somewhat hard bed; he straddled her waist, supporting himself.

She shifted a bit, feeling what was going on in his trousers. She looked a bit uncomfortable at that.

''Are you...okay?''

She nodded swiftly. She still didn't want him to stop. ''Yes.'' She even reached up, tracing her hands over his chest again, and started to pull him down.

_She's still not making this easy..._

He licked over her lips again before parting them, meeting her in another kiss...hungrier this time. His inhibitions were almost gone, and he was starting to look forward to the things he was planning to do to her, and with her. Her kiss deepened as well; her hands beginning to explore more of his body, and with less of the earlier shyness. He heard her moan lightly as his hand traced down her side.

The more right it felt, the more wrong he was convinced this was.

He pulled apart from her, sat up, and slid his hands up to her shoulders. He gently took the thin straps to her dress and slid them down her arms.

She began to squirm a bit, but finally allowed him to do it. She almost wanted to call it off...but then she thought a little more...experimentation couldn't hurt. It was only...skin touching skin, after all.

He pulled the top of the dress down, exposing her midsection...still covered by a bra. He did not take this off yet...but dipped his head lower, to breathe in her scent around her neck, lightly licking and nipping at it, but not so hard that marks were left.

She shivered at the feeling of the silver strands brushing over her upper body, still running her hands through it, trying to move it if it tickled too much. The chill was beginning to leave the room...or maybe it was something else.

He moved his head up, kissing her forehead; he shook a bit himself when he felt her kiss at his own neck. She was slow in her movements, and still a little hesitant, but she kissed him several times, and onto his shoulder.

He thought he enjoyed the feeling way too much.

He took her lips into his mouth again, kissing her harder this time; deeper than he had before. She tasted wonderful to him; pure was still the best word to describe her. He thought of the word several times...and how after this night, by the look of things, she would be anything but...and she was allowing him to do this, for reasons that he may never know. He was also starting not to care about the whys...and while he still felt disgusted with himself inside for doing this, taking a girl-who was not yet eighteen and his comrade liked a lot-and exploring her entire body before anyone else, a dark part of him loved the idea.

He broke the kiss, but traced his lips back down her neck, and to her chest, alternating planting kisses there, and running his tongue over her. He suddenly sat up again, and took her to his lap, turning her around. He brushed back her hair, and began to kiss her neck and shoulder again, more intensely this time, while sliding off her bra.

She shivered at this and moved to cover herself. He stopped for a moment.

''Is...it...too much...?'' _Please say it is._

Again, the head shake. ''Sephiroth...please keep going.'' She turned her head to look at him, her eyes beginning to grow heavy-lidded with pleasure. She touched the side of his face.

The words and the act broke down even more inhibitions, leaving very little behind. He continued to kiss her neck, shoulders, between her shoulder blades, running a knuckle up and down her spine as he nipped at her. He traced his tongue up and down her spine as well; she shivered intensely at this feeling, as he brushed his lips back up, to the back of her neck, paying attention there for awhile. He lay her back down on the bed, looking at her bare torso full on.

She was endowed just right, he thought to himself, and smirked for the first time this night.

To his surprise, she smiled softly back, stroking her hand through his hair again.

The train kept running; occasionally stopping and starting again. They still had all night. The rooms had good enough walls they barely heard anything going on outside. This was good, because it meant anyone that might be close-which wasn't many, since this car only had private rooms-wouldn't be able to hear what was going on in the car.

He traced his lips over her jawline again, nibbling it lightly, kissing her one more time before slowly running his tongue down her neck and to her chest...resting his head between her breasts, which he found were already stiff. He lifted a hand to one, and began to trace the fingers around.

Aerith had to admit to herself, as much as she hated to, she had never felt anything like this...she could feel herself getting...aroused herself, much like him. She felt a bit uncomfortable between her legs...she had ideas, she wanted to feel more of what he could to. She continued to trace her hands through his hair, kissing the top of his head, as he slowly fondled one of her breasts, sometimes licking and kissing at her chest while he did so. He looked up at her, with the eyes that could seemingly look through her...and slowly dragged his tongue over the breast he had just fondled and pinched.

She moaned out, louder now, than she had all night, and wrapped her hands in his hair, almost by instinct, as he began to suck, dashing his tongue against it at the same time. His arms wrapped around her midsection as he did so, and she could have sworn she felt him smile against her.

_This feels too good to be true, _she thought to herself, as his wet tongue licked at the sensitive nipple.

He was smiling. Now the guilt was starting to melt away...or at least be covered up for now, no doubt to come back in spades tomorrow. But living for tomorrow was stupid, after all. She was letting him do something he might have had wanted to do, subconsciously, for a very long time...so he might as well enjoy it all he could. He loved the way the firm breast felt in his mouth, and her gentle scent that entered his nose.

Every second that past, he knew he defiled her more, and he wasn't even halfway done.

His hands finally traced down to her waist, and up her legs, for the first time; he had kept all of his touches and ministrations above her belt. He figured now it was a good a time as any to test the waters, to see how far she really wanted to go.

Her legs closed a bit instinctively, but she did not push his hand away. He didn't press the matter at the moment, but continued running his hand up and down her leg, through the dress, as he began to gently nip at her breast, while his other, free hand began to fondle her other one. Her hands wrapped tighter in his hair, and she continued uttering small, moaning gasps of pleasure.

''Please...'' he heard her whisper.

''What?'' he said, his voice very low.

''M...More.'' was the only word she said.

He continued his attention on her nipple; lightly licking at it, her shivers and moans telling him that he was beginning to drive her a bit mad. He sat up for a second, and began to tug at her dress, to pull it the rest of the way off. She again was hesitant at first.

''Still more?'' he asked, his eyes questioning.

She nodded...and helped him with it. He removed her shoes and his own boots; he kept his trousers on however, and her underwear...but he slid a finger under the waistband to begin to tug them down. Again she let him; but she kept her legs shut, obviously shy, and not wanting him to see how aroused she was.

He lay next to her, propping his head on his hand, and slid his hand down her side again. She turned to face him, one of her small hands tracing his own side, causing his flesh to prickle. Her touch was so light, but it still aroused him. He closed his eyes at the feeling.

_I could just stick it in and get it over with now, and end this madness. _

But he found himself wanting to take his time with her. A bit for her sake, and a lot for his; there was still much more he wanted to explore. He leaned down to kiss her sides, down to her hip; she gasped at that, his hair still tickling her body, his head too close to her midsection for her to feel comfortable at the moment. He brought his head back up to look at her, meeting her in a hungry kiss again, as his hand began to move more toward her center, finally.

She looked at him, her eyes bright, with a bit of fear mixed in them as well. He sat up a bit to trace his other hand down her face and through her hair to relax her, and she gradually began to allow her legs to open a bit, to let his hand trace up her inner thigh. She leaned forward, brushing her lips over his once again, he met her halfway, as he slid his hand up and down the insides of her legs; not going up toward the center yet. He lay her on her back once again, kneeling next to her, his lips brushing down her neck, to her chest once again.

He finally brought his hand to her center, a thumb stroking lightly over her mound, through the rather trim set of soft curls. _Did she...no, she couldn't have..._he thought to himself.

She gasped at this, trying to move her legs together again, a bit afraid...but he gently held his hand there, and looked up at her, after flickering his tongue over a breast again. The look in his eyes told her that it wouldn't be a bad thing, what he was going to do. She opened them again, slowly, as he went back up to kiss her lips; her probing her own tongue in a bit again...slowly, but a bit less clumsy than before.

_She's starting to learn my actions. I hope when..._He pushed those thoughts out of his head, as well. He had been doing that a lot, lately. Thoughts like that could finish driving him mad, and he already felt he was on his way down, with the things he was doing, wanted to do, and was about to do.

Her hands once again went through his hair; she enjoyed it, he could tell. Women tended to; it was part of what gave him his beautiful, exotic look.

He let one finger part her lower lips, slowly, but he didn't put it inside, yet. He traced it around her inner folds, which were quite wet at this moment. He shivered at the touch; she was so soft...and yes, even more pure down there.

He still had to ask himself what he was doing.

He could tell she was a bit embarrassed about her state; she wasn't used to this, being this aroused. She squirmed and closed her eyes, but he took her in a kiss again, as his finger slowly worked around the outside, still, brushing over everything.

It felt quite amazing to her; she certainly had never felt that before, and even on the outside, his finger seemed to know what it was doing. She hadn't felt anything this...pleasurable before; well, his hot mouth over her breasts was about an equal feeling of pleasure. Her moans came easier now, her own walls beginning to break down.

His finger brushed around her hood, but he was careful; he was aware his fingers were rather rough from combat, despite the gloves he wore. He wasn't the most gentle man in the world, but he felt like being a bit lighter with her than he normally was.

He slowly slid one finger inside of her, and she tensed; she squealed at the feeling, softly.

''S...Sephiroth...''

''Does it hurt?'' he asked, fairly direct.

''A...a bit.''

''If we want to go further...you need to get used to it.''

''I know.'' She breathed out, still shaking. ''It's okay.''

He moved it in and out, slowly, curling it; she began to relax somewhat, and moaned louder at the feeling of something inside of her. He felt how wet she was, and it was turning him on more than he realized it would.

_She's so tight..._he thought. He wondered if they would be able to go through with it fully tonight. He wasn't a small man, he would have to help her along a bit. He kept maneuvering his finger inside of her skillfully, bringing louder moans yet from her lips.

He would bring her to climax at least one time before, he thought, if she let him do that...and he hoped she did. He began to slowly leave the breast, and kiss down her stomach.

She tensed again; he could feel it with his hand, which still slowly moved in and out of her, as he added a second finger. She yelped softly at the feeling, as he continued to nuzzle down her stomach. She didn't quite know what he was doing, but she had a feeling. He kissed the soft skin of her stomach, tracing his tongue to her navel, around it, dipping it in.

His hair tickled her stomach and legs, her hands stroked it, grasping it at times when his fingers hit a sensitive spot. He finally pulled them out, and brought them to his lips, tasting them; he placed them in his mouth. He found she tasted rather nice. She blushed; even after everything, he was now beginning to get almost too intimate with her.

But she didn't stop him. She found she wanted this as much as him. She wanted to experience more. So far, her first lover...well, it wasn't love, but still...had proven to be one that knew much of a woman's body.

She still felt dirty, as his lips traced lower, placing a kiss on top of her mound, before he rested his forehead there, tracing his hands up and down her thighs, parting them. He repositioned himself for easier access, and began to kiss and slowly lick up her thighs.

They felt even better than they did in his dream. His hair brushed around her some more, his breathing heavy.

She tensed yet again...letting shaky moans escape her lips. _Is he going to..._Before yesterday, she had never even kissed a man; now Sephiroth was about to administer more pleasure to her, and she felt a bit...exposed; this was so intimate. She still didn't want him to stop, though...and allowed her hands to slide through his hair, stroking his head as he maneuvered his way up.

He could smell her arousal as he slowly licked the rest of the way up her right thigh; his hand massaged the left one, it's skin smooth as silk. He made his way to her womanhood; still more closed to him, and placed a kiss onto her lower lips. She shivered and gasped at the feeling; pulling away from him for a moment, but the soft strokes of his hands relaxed her.

He could still stop...but he was too close. He wanted to taste everything she had to offer...the first kiss had been a sweet one.

_No doubt this is new to her. She's...so pure..._

With another kiss, and another, he kept kissing her nether lips, not using his tongue quite yet, letting her get more comfortable with him being down there, in her most intimate spot. He moved his hands to her hips, grasping her as he let his tongue snake out to part her, allowing him to pick up her taste fully for the first time.

All it took was one, and he moaned low in his throat, as he gave her slow licks around, maneuvering his skilled tongue all over, licking up the wetness that was there, and that continued to come. She began to gasp louder at the feeling; she certainly had never felt this, and she was beginning to enjoy it a bit too much. Her shyness began to melt away more, now that he had seen and experienced almost all of her. With soft moans of his name, it pushed him to explore more, and deeper, sliding his long tongue up into her, pressing against her, curling inside of her.

Every moment that passed drove him to be more intense in his ministrations, speeding up, thrusting harder, and sucking at her. He pulled her legs on his shoulders; she slid them down, but he pulled them back and held them, giving him better access yet to the area that no man had yet experienced. She tightened them around his shoulders a bit, finally, and gave a small thrust of her hips.

_I couldn't go back now, even if I wanted to. She...is...exquisite..._

He moaned low in his throat again, the vibrations traveling up her body, causing her to squirm on the bed, unable to control herself. Her breathing grew heavier, his hands sliding up and down her sides, gripping her tightly as he flickered his tongue under the hood, to tease the most sensitive spot on her body.

She moaned out louder when he did that; it made him shiver a bit and continue on that little spot for a short while, almost torturing it with pleasure. He now wanted nothing more than to hear her shriek even louder, the little inhibitions he had left long gone.

After he dashed his tongue over her awhile more, lapping greedily at everything that came from her, she was so wet he wondered how she hadn't came yet-then again, he was enjoying her too much to let her go right away. He finally took her clit into his mouth, gently nipped at it and began to suck. He could feel her contract and thrust her hips; when he noticed he broke down a few more of her walls he kept going, faster; he wanted to bring her to the end, as he was long pressing painfully against his trousers. He had to be inside of her, and soon...and he wanted more of her honey.

As he sucked, he let himself loose; as he began to dash his tongue against the little spot once again, he heard her cry out his name in pleasure.

_I knew she would eventually...she had to give in._

_God, why am I thinking like this? This isn't like me...I'm usually so much more of a...gentleman..._

He slid his tongue inside of her to taste her as she orgasmed heavily, shaking hard and crying out in ecstasy; he licked and sucked at her to gather up all that came; he licked harder, desperate for more. He moaned again as she finished; he slowly lifted his head after she could give no more, kissing her a few more times and giving her a few more licks before finally pulling himself away.

Her eyes were shut, and she was panting heavily. She hadn't felt anything so good before, and any dirty feelings she had were buried for the time being from the overwhelming pleasure she had just received...she had never orgasmed before, and her first was wonderful. She opened her eyes to look at him, reached out, and touched his face, after he had licked his lips.

''Why...did...you?''

''I wanted to. You...'' he lay next to her, fully freeing himself from his trousers, but gave her time to recover. He kissed her ear a few times as she lay there, catching her breath. ''So sweet...'' he whispered.

She opened her eyes, and turned to face him, she planted a soft kiss on his lips, which made him begin to feel a bit guilty, of all things, all over again. _Even through everything, she still has a sort of innocence. When I met her, I knew she wasn't a perfect little angel...but she always had an air of innocence. Even after I took it...she still has some._

She traced her hands down his face; this man that had given her a lot of firsts these past two days, the beautiful soldier whom she only knew by name and in passing a bit more than two weeks before. She looked down, though, and her eyes widened.

She wondered how it would all fit inside of her. Even with his earlier preparation with his fingers and his recent ministrations with his tongue, she didn't think this would work right away.

She wanted to try, though. She reached down, to gently stroke it. She didn't do anything else; just stroked it.

His reaction was fast; she felt his body shudder and he moaned-almost growled, low in his throat at the feeling of her soft hand around him. He didn't ask her or really care if she did anything, but if she wanted to experiment, he would let her. He leaned down to nibble at her ear as she did this, brushing his lips against her jaw.

He couldn't take it too long, though; he was so aroused at the moment he had to do something. He pushed her back down to the bed, straddling her again. He pushed her legs apart with his hands. He looked right at her.

''Do you want this?'' _I would stop. It would kill me, but I could use my hand..._

After a short pause, she bit her lip and nodded. She figured she had come this far, and with him over her, his silver hair spilling over her body, she...wanted him the rest of the way.

He brushed his manhood against her; she shook again; he found she was still shaking.

_She's scared, _he thought to himself, a hint of the self-loathing coming back in. _She's scared of this. But she still wants it. I hope she knows what she's doing..._

''It will be better if I just push in...I'll stay there for a bit until you...adjust.''

She nodded; as she ran her hands through his hair again, for what must have been the hundredth time...not that he minded...he penetrated her in one swift motion.

She cried out; it was a bit painful at first; but he lay over her, supporting himself up, letting her get used to the feeling. He wrapped one arm around her and kissed her forehead to calm her shaking; her breathing soon returned to normal. He began to move slightly; he slowly thrust once, twice.

_I don't think I'll be able to last that long. _Now that he was inside of her, the feeling was almost too much for him.

She slid her arms around his neck, as he began to thrust a bit faster; she moaned each time, but with less pain, and more pleasure as the time went on. He sped up a bit, readjusting himself and continuing to penetrate her deeply; his own breathing became ragged after a short while. He had a feeling she would be able to last longer than him, but he could take care of her again after the fact.

She felt him inside of her, all the way; she was now no longer a virgin, and she was, deep down, enjoying this, even though she knew this would probably never happen again; and for the best. Though she sometimes wondered what life would be like with this man, this dangerous one. Her hands slid down his back and back up; she began to try to match his rhythms. She was a bit clumsy, once again, but it didn't bother him in the least, at this moment.

He had all day tomorrow and for weeks to come to feel guilt. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy this.

He thrust faster and faster yet; trying different movements; her moans grew louder as he began to bring her on her way again. He was getting close, himself; he could hold back, but it was starting to get a bit painful. The feeling of her around him, surrounding him...he wouldn't mind doing it again, but he knew that it would be a very bad idea.

He liked this girl, though. She was beautiful and still somehow had an innocence about her, and he would always feel that strange tie to her, somehow...he just never knew how. She tried to keep up with him, and for being her first time she was doing well; she matched his thrusts closer, and her growing moans told him that she was enjoying it more than it was hurting her. He could feel how tight she was, still...but it felt so good around him. She was still extremely turned on from his previous treatment, and this wasn't preventing her from being turned on again.

She really did like this, way too much. Thoughts raced around her head, to the best of her ability. Her brains were almost shut down due to the sheer overwhelming pleasure of all of this, but she was in full enjoyment.

He finally couldn't take it anymore; his breathing was loud, and he was grunting; thrusting harder into her; her moans turned into louder cries out, but they were not in pain. He knew he didn't have to pull out...he was unable to...reproduce normally, so he knew it wouldn't be a problem. He debated quickly whether or not he wanted to mark her with his seed...but he finally decided, what did it matter now.

He grunted one last time before moaning louder than he had all night; thrusting hard as he came; she shivered at the feeling of his hot seed filling her. He kept going; he thrust as long as he could, trying to bring her to bliss one more time as well, before he was finished. It had been a long time since he had released himself like this...his own hand the week before notwithstanding.

He managed to hold on and feel her shudder beneath him once again before he went soft; he held her tightly as her second orgasm finally went through her small frame, engulfing her, almost greater than her first one.

He stayed inside of her for a short while more, he finally let himself out, and rolled over next to her, putting his hand behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Sweat poured off of his forehead despite the chill that was still in the small room; he felt the train pull to a stop and start again, as they lay there, silent.

After a long while of not-so-uncomfortable silence, he turned toward her; she met his gaze.

''Are you alright?'' he asked, his voice soft.

''Fine.'' She smiled at him. ''It was...wonderful, it...really was.''

He nodded. He leaned forward again, even though they were finished, and kissed her. _I shouldn't be doing this, I shouldn't be treating this like it's anything more than a one-night stand. I took her, apparently seduced her, fucked her, took her virginity and now leaving my comrade to have what he should have in the first place. _

He really had to wonder what kind of person he was.

_Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself. Maybe this shows I'm more human than I think I am. Which wouldn't be a bad thing._

She returned his kiss, however, in full. He finally sat up, after cleaning himself off in the sink they had in the room, and redid his trousers, putting his boots back on, but leaving his coat. He handed her the dress and underwear he had removed, and she redressed herself, also cleaning herself off a bit, still wobbly. The smell of sex was strong in the room, but he knew the train operators would take no notice. They really didn't care what went on in the private quarters, after all.

They sat again, on the small couch in the room, leaning back. Neither of them knew how long they had been.

''Should we just sleep here tonight?'' she asked. ''How much longer until it gets back?''

''A few hours. We can if you like.'' He was a bit tired. He leaned on the couch, and she leaned on him...even though he wasn't sure he wanted that. But he found his arm going around her anyway, almost protectively.

He thankfully drifted off quickly before his thoughts could catch up to him.

--

The train pulled to a stop, and the two of them stepped off; it was still very early morning, so no one was really around yet, except for the few either very, very early risers or folks who went to sleep in the morning. He turned to look at her.

''Will you be okay getting home?''

She nodded. ''We...won't be seeing much after this, will we?''

''It...would be better this way. He...can be much better to you than I could.''

She took his hand. ''You're not so bad. Just...watch yourself. I...'' she trailed off.

''You don't have to say anymore. You'll still see me now and again, around, on missions. You don't have to be afraid to say hello, at least. But these nights...we should leave this as a memory.''

''I...I know.'' She touched his chest again, as his long coat was open. He found himself leaning over to kiss her, savoring her taste one last time. He smiled at her, a touch sad.

''Good night.'' He turned to walk off, before he didn't want to leave anymore.

**A/N: **Whew! That was a long one. Well, these things happen. The lemon part usually comes kind of natural for me, but I admit this one was a bit difficult compared to the others I've done. Hope it turned out alright!


	7. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **As it was with the rest of the chapters, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or any of it's characters. No money is made off of this fanfiction.

**A/N: **The second half is a bit of a time jump, but not terribly far ahead; it's still in CC time.

--

**Epilogue**

--

''Sephiroth! Finally...''

Sephiroth sat in the data room again, combing over more files, and becoming more disturbed yet again. He turned to replace a few, and take more out, when Zack walked into the room behind him. He didn't sleep very much the past two nights...since the one before last was spent on the train.

''Calm down, Zack. We have to be quiet in here,'' he replied, still not looking.

''Ah, sorry. Look...do I have...time before...?''

''You should be asking Lazard, not me.''

''Ahh...he wasn't there.''

''Very well. Go there, see her. I made sure she was...alright while you were gone.'' The words tasted of bile in his mouth, and he hoped the choking sound didn't show.

''Ahh, thanks! Alright, we'll be seeing soon, on the next mission! Maybe we'll get one together again.'' He saluted, Sephiroth unable to see due to him having been turned around, and walked out.

_He's so much better for her than I could ever be. _

As he sifted through the files, he wondered what his life might be like if he had met her first.

--

''H...hello.''

He turned toward her. She was standing in front of a new flower cart, by the look of it. He walked over, and smiled sadly. He had been through quite a bit lately, as did all of them.

''Hello.'' He nodded. ''New?'' he pointed at the cart.

''Yeah, Zack helped build it,'' she chuckled. ''I think it could be cuter, though.''

He managed to chuckle. ''Perhaps.''

''Long mission coming up, I hear. It's going to be awhile before I see him again. I think...'' she paused. ''When he comes back, I'm going to ask him to take me to see a sunset, and the sky.''

He smiled. ''You should. You shouldn't spend your...whole life down here. You'd like it...so much up there.''

''I think I would.''

He looked at her. ''I think I'm leaving after this. New work. Somewhere else. Shin-Ra isn't...for me anymore.''

She looked surprised, but didn't say anything. ''I won't tell.''

He nodded. ''Thanks. Zack's the only other one that knows.''

''Where do you guys have to go this time?''

''Nibelheim,'' he replied. ''Standard mission. It's long, but it's just due to the distance. We should be back...fairly soon. Well, he should be, anyway.''

''Well...'' she looked down. ''Take care. Good luck. Make sure Zack's ok.''

''I will. I hope to be in and out of there.'' He stepped forward, and brushed a gloved hand down her face one more time. Rather than pull away from it, she patted it.

''Thank you,'' she said.

He said nothing; he just gave her a small, sad smile and walked off. He had quite a few grunts to round up before the long trip.

**A/N:** Just the short ending. I wanted to do something with it. Well, hope the whole fic was enjoyable, anyway! Whew, I haven't done one this long in awhile.


End file.
